I wandered over to Fulton Street to check out the maniacal Joanna Rees supporters (geez, how much are they getting paid per hour?) getting ready for tonight’s big debate and during that time the animated Ed Heads were dispatched with extreme prejudice, never again to be seen.

And the yellow XL T-shirt, one that helped put poor, poor Enrique Pearce almost $20k into debt, was removed to be stuffed into a pocket:

And who’s this guy with the blue chalk stripes?

Is he like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park? Or a Giant Madagascar Chameleon? Or something:

“They can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects simultaneously, this lets their eyes move independently from each other. It in effect gives them a full 360-degree arc of vision around their body.”

Turns out that Doris Duke was heavy into orchids, she was “collector, cultivator, and preservationist” all in one. Plus, some of her pieces will be on display in the Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam & Burma, the new exhibit starting this Friday, October 23rd. So why not turn the AAM into a mini Conservatory of Flowers for a little while, huh?

Orchids: A Tribute to Doris DukeTuesday, October 20 through Sunday, October 25
Main Lobby, North and South courts
FREE with museum admission

Click to expand:

Roll credits:

“Orchids (Orchidaceae) are flowering plants commonly found in Southeast Asia and other tropical parts of the world. This is a botanic description of orchids, but for most of us orchids are the most exotic of plants with an enormous diversity of shape, size, color. Doris Duke, who collected many of the artworks presented in Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam and Burma, was an avid orchid collector, cultivator, and preservationist. As an homage to Doris Duke and her passion for collecting, for the first time and for five days only, the museum will present a striking display of orchids. The display features arrangements by members of Ikebana International and Ikebana Teachers Federation, San Francisco Orchid Society, San Francisco Garden Club, Asian Art Museum Flower Committee, de Young Flower Committee; floral designers, orchid aficionados, and others.”

There was a good turnout at yesterday’s free pancake breakfast put on by Senator Leland Yee on Brotherhood Way yesterday. (I had spent the early morning “recycling” copper from some empty apartments in ParkMerced, so it was nice to have a little break.) Senator Yee talked about upcoming developments in Sacramento, including the May 30, 2009 deadline for getting proposed laws out of the Senate.

There were elected representatives like San Francisco Supervisor Carmen Chu and people from state agencies like CalTrans on hand as well. It was Democracy in Action. Read all about it.

“It is unconscionable to force a domestic violence victim from their home,” said Yee. “Evicting a survivor of domestic violence not only results in being re-victimized, but unfairly strains a family attempting to recover. The possibility of eviction discourages women from coming forward to report incidents of domestic violence. If a victim wants to stay in his or her home, they should be allowed that opportunity and should not face added pressures of moving or possible homelessness.”